FIREWORKS are expected when the second staging of the Digicel Cup Inter-school Clay Challenge shoots off at the Jamaica Skeet Club (JSC) in Portmore today.

The Junior Shotgun 50-target competition will see 75 junior shooters from 11 high schools across the island participating. Approximately 100 shooters have been trained by national coach Khaleel Azan, who started his junior training programme four years ago in an effort to raise the standard of shooting in Jamaica.

The juniors have now become a formidable force at the Skeet Club, and have oftentimes hammered their more senior opponents in almost every class of competition.

“The future of the sport is very bright. We had some excellent performances from the junior shooters in the last two tournaments and that says a lot about where we are headed,” Azan told the Jamaica Observer.

“This competition is going to be exciting and we are anticipating some close scores at the end. So we encourage everyone to come out and support the juniors and have an entertaining day,” he added.

The beginners will kick off the day’s proceedings at 9:00 am, followed by the more experienced shooters. The latter will enter the field behind their school banners at 10:30 am and start shooting at 11:00 am.

Nicholas Chen, Chad Ziadie, Brandon Reid, Hugh Jones, Aidan Ingledew, Zachary Chen, Nickolai Clarke, Todd Lazarus, Zach Lazarus, and Jake Therrien are some of the ace shooters that will be on show. The female category will be highlighted by shooters such as Ashleigh Azan, Tayla Ziadie, Alysia Evans, Leah Azan and Isabelle Chin. Also expected to spark are Sarah Mahfood and Sarah Conway.

The competition is also being sponsored by St Mary’s, Rangers Protection & Security, Reggae Jammin, ACDelco, Bigga, Wata, Tru-Juice, The Best Dressed Chicken and Arts & Photo Impressions.

— Sherdon Cowan